It Is Good To Talk or You Are Not Alone

You are not alone.

It is January 2012 and you sit down to look at what you want to do this year, perhaps a nice holiday or a new car?

And slowly you realize that the debt that you were in in 2011 has grown and the £8000 is now £12,000.

It seems like all around you your peers, friends and family are enjoying the good life, holidays, expensive technical toys and fancy cars. They do not appear to be in debt so why are you?

Well, what I want to say is it is good to talk.

About 12 months ago when I really got the money saving bug, I started talking to my friends and family. I explained I was in debt and trying to pay it back, that my credit card took priority over a dinner out or an expensive weekend away. 

Honesty breeds honesty and it is an important tool in changing your financial habits. I am not saying ask you next door neighbour or friend how much debt they are in. But often if you tell someone they will tell you. Then, you realize you are not alone.

You  will discover that probably a lot of those around you are in debt too, you may even find that yours is minimal compared to those you envy.  Someone might be scathing, (well they have been with me) but I do not care, this is my business and I am taking care of it. Some might even say they have not got any debt. Take into account they could be lying.

Often that Wii, Ipad, new car, or even the deposit on a house has been paid on a credit card. Did you know the average UK credit card debt per household for 2012 is £7,982. Well if that is the average, there are many people out there without debt and many with a significantly higher figure. Ask yourself as you look at those you compare yourself with, which out of these two categories do you think they will be in? 

However, it has made me realize that I AM alone when it comes to paying everything back. Not many others are.

Paying back the money, makes me feel good

I will in 12 months be debt free, will they? I will be able to fall asleep and only worry about the mortgage, which I know I can afford.

In talking about finance with others, we stop pretending to be richer than we are, and therefore we stop feeling we are owed the new car, the ipad and the ensuite bathroom.

Talking is a good thing, and one I intend to continue to keep doing.

As a slight aside, I went out at lunchtime today and spent £2, nearly 27% of my weekly cash budget from Sunday, but I did get 3 tins of diet coke and a multi pack of crisps which should last me the rest of the week at lunchtime. You have got to love Poundland!. 

Total left: £3.80.

Frugally yours

Abigail

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Simple Solutions, or How I Am Not Cool

I am not cool.For you see, I am never up to date on the latest tv.

I don’t own a sky box, this make me an enigma amongst pretty much everyone I know.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have Sky as there is so much good entertainment on their channels. But, I will not pay the money.      

I invested a few years back in a Humax recordable freeview box, and I love       it.

It was a one off payment and allows me to do a lot that Sky can do. I can       “series link” a favourite programme.

I can record straight to the hard drive and I can record two channels at       once.

So, I am happy with this, but I do like a lot of programmes that are only       available on Sky. Their cheapest package is £20 per month, and I refuse to       pay that. So what to do?

Well this question was answered about two years ago now, when I joined Lovefilm. They also carry complete box sets of tv series. I am on a high usage package  - 3 unlimited discs per month for about  £13, £7 cheaper than Sky and as I do not mind watching the series I like about 6 months after everyone else then it really works for me.

Currently I am working my way through the latest series of Criminal Minds, and Fringe, plus watching on DVD or Blu Ray means I get to watch episodes back to back.

I would say that my Lovefilm membership is the one of two luxury items that I still have. The other is my private healthcare which costs about £70 / month just for me. This really is a luxury item, but one I can currently afford so I am keeping it.

It amazes me how many of us out there have unnecessary monthly bills that       could easily be culled if you went through your outgoings.      

If you do have Sky do you need ALL the channels, or really could you survive with just a basic package and no movies etc? Do you need that subscription to a website, or a bank account that is costing you money each month?      

I manage my money now pretty well, 2 days after getting paid, a large chunk is sent off to another account by standing order. From this account the       following bills are paid
-               mortgage
-               insurance policies
-               council tax
-               tv license

I then know that the balance must still pay for my utilities, petrol and food. What’s left is for “fun and games” or to fritter. Except it was, now debt gets paid off and savings grow. The fun and games element has been severely reduced.

This is my idea of thrift, constant and consistent review of expenditure.

This is not cool either, talking about thrift. After careful consideration,,, I can live with that.

Frugally yours
Abigail
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P.S. Spent £1.70 today, £5.80 left until Friday.

Sunday Success, or What I Did This Weekend

Well Sunday comes around again pretty quickly doesn't it?

I arrived home just after lunch from staying with my sister, and I have had a lovely time.

Saturday morning I was woken up early by my handsome nephew with the suggestion that we play with his Playmobile fire engine he got for christmas - what a fine idea.

It kills me that a little 3yo is so organised, look at the way he places his pigs in the sty, according to size order... brilliant!

I left my sister's early and toddled off to Esher for my haircut, what  a fabulous salon all black and white with special chairs that gave you a massage as you had your hair washed. Not frugal at all, but I loved every minute of it. Thank you sis! x

Afterwards I had a wander round to look at the shops, but bought nothing, yay good girl Abigail! Some very nice monuments to Queen Victoria in Esher

Back home, where we all got bundled up and went for a wander round the local shopping centre. Such lovely views where she lives.

I did have to take my nephew to the local toy shop, and we spent a pleasant few minutes browsing, before I bought him a little treat.

Anyhoo, left early this morning, not very much lighter in the pocket, so all in all not an expensive weekend at all.

I came back via Tesco, as I knew with this weather once I got home, it would be unlikely I would be off out again. Brrrr far too cold. So here is my shopping for the week.

Total £19.10
I still have a freezer full of food, so it was mainly extras and some things for work. For example of the big milks' and all the tea bags are for the office. The baby bel were on special - half price so I bought two and that along with the bread (short date - 62p) will get me lunches at work too with an apple of course.

Did you know if you bought shaving gel from the ladies shaving section the cheapest is £1.35 for a pink tin, whilst in the mens you can get it for 95p - bit of a no brainer..

A couple of impulses purchases not on the list - biscuits and custard, but I think I can live with that. Got back and straight to work on a shepherds pie, made with the mince in the freezer £1 (on offer) which I then added an onion and the jar of carrotts and peas. Made gravy and the base was done. 

Well the potatoes were finally beginning to look a little ropey so I boiled and mashed all of them then added cheese. So all of them are gone now, but I think I only had to throw two that were a bit grim when I peeled them. That 11p bag sure has gone far.

I think the total cost for this pie has come in at about £1.50 and it should do for about 4 meals though after tomorrow I will freeze it into portions for a later date.
So that brings me nicely on to the Menu for this week.

Breakfast will be cereal, as I have a lot left and lunches as mentioned will be toast with baby bel and an apple.
Sunday - shepherds pie
Monday - Shepherds pie with sweetheart cabbage
Tuesday - something easy as I am always home late - probably eggs boiled or poached
Wednesday - chicken casserole (frozen left overs from last week) with cabbage again and maybe some peas
Thursday - The two crispy pancakes still left in the box and veg
Friday - Fish fingers with veg
Saturday - eating The Chap so TBC

Did have a little fail came home and was putting away the shopping when I came across two items for the bin some out of date milk and cheese. Damn, must do better this week.

Well if you remember the 2 tasks I set myself for today were do the paperwork and sort out the Christmas Cards. I can say - Both achieved yay!
The paperwork took me took hours to clear

You can see why. I ended with a huge amount of paper for recycling and a little pile to shred, the rest was filed away, plus I took the opportunity to clear some space in the cabinet by culling paperwork over 5 years old. A good job done, but gosh I hated every single moment.

Plus I finally took down the Christmas cards and made tags for next year.

 Another good and thrifty job done.

So all in all not spent too much, and most of what I did spend was necessary, I have just cleaned out my purse of anything under a 50p and put it in my rainy day jar - which leaves me this

£7.50
I am going to try and use that this week and not visit the cashpoint until Friday, achieveable I think. Though I will have to put petrol in the car again mid week, but I will use my card for that and not shove so much as a kinder egg on the bill- scouts honour!

Got some ideas for a few interesting posts next week, so please keep dropping by.

Frugally yours
Abigailx

Indulging Myself or Possibly The Best Present Ever.

The weekend has landed and I have been looking forward to it as I am currently spending it in Surrey with my sister and her family.

I only saw them over Christmas, but I am so lucky that we are very close and her husband is like the brother I never had.

The reason I am down? Well part of my Christmas present was a hair cut at a very nice salon down here. Such a useful and indulgent gift – thanks sis!

Really looking forward to a bit of luxury tomorrow morning, plus I am so glad to be able to help out here whilst I am down by doing a bit of free babysitting for them tonight and tomorrow night.

My nephew is without a doubt the handsomest boy there is and if my sister is out with her hubby I then get him all to myself. At 3 years old he is full of beans and I am really looking forward to playing with him.

It is true the best things in life are free.

I am planning on being home by Sunday lunchtime and the two tasks I have set my self for this weekend

• Sorting out my paperwork finally
• Clearing the Christmas Cards from the shelves.

If I can achieve these goals then I will be very happy.

I did my weekly fridge clean last night and only had to throw an old lemon away. So not much food waste from the last 7 days, which is good.

I have stuck to the menu plans for this week too, apart from yesterday when I felt really ill, so I ignored food after lunch for the rest of the day.

And whilst I did feel really poorly last night I did manage to strip and wash the bed, so I have managed to avoid the tumble dryer. I was going to turn the heating right down, but as I felt so ill I gave in and kept in up high until bed time. However, I then turned it right down for the morning and left it like that in case it freezes whilst I am away.

One step closer to reaching my target of £250 for the next quarters’ utilities.

I find that giving myself a target to achieve really helps focus my mind in terms of finances. As a female living alone, I do not have the safety net of partner’s salary in case of emergency, so I do always keep a couple of months salary at least saved. This would more than pay off my debts, but leaves me open to just incurring additional debt should the boiler break again, or the car develop a problem.

Debt gives me focus and savings give me peace of mind.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Frugally yours

Abigail

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Damn it, Damn it, Damn it! or A Failure To Report.

I am not having a good day today, I walked into work this morning and there was only half a pint of milk left, which would not do all of us all day for tea. As it is my responsibility to grab the milk (otherwise no-one buys it and I am evil without tea) I knew straight away I would have to grab some more cash at lunchtime. Bugger!

I had also checked my emails that morning and the utilities bill had arrived, I am on a dual fuel standard tariff and gave them my readings yesterday – so I knew it was on it’s way. But I was not particularly pleased to see it in black and white……£316.35 for the quarter.

I am naturally a very cold person and am rarely to be found in short sleeves, so I always know one of my biggest expenses is going to be gas and electricity. But at £105.45 per month, I am going to have to work something out for future. My aim is to get the next quarterly bill down to say £250.00. I think that is achievable. And I start tonight.

As I am away down south this weekend, off after work on Friday and back Sunday lunch time, I am going to turn everything off tomorrow as I leave W Towers to try and stop all expenditure on gas and electricity. I have changed most of my bulbs now to energy efficiency ones and I now switch anything I can off at the plug – Toaster, kettle, spare room lamps etc. But I am going to try a halogen heater I have been given one and see if I can make do with just that on in the living room of an evening even if only for a couple of nights per week. I think I am also going to stop the heating from coming on for an hour in the morning.

The negative side to this heater is every time I change channel on the tv etc it either starts rotating again or adds / removes another bar on the heater. Very eerie the first time it happened.

Organisation is proving to be invaluable again in saving money too. E.g. I changed my bed this evening rather than Sunday, so I am leaving the washed items on the line in the garage thus save on the tumble-drying costs.

I went to the cashpoint and picked up £50, much more than I ideally wanted to withdraw, but since I have such a journey ahead of me tomorrow I need to put more petrol in perhaps as much as £30 in to cover it and into next week. I will go to my local supermarket petrol station to do this where petrol is cheapest and I can pick up the reward points. Then hopefully the money I have left will get me through the weekend and perhaps into next week as well.

I am definitely going to try the £5 challenge again next week and see if I can last for 3-4 days on this during the week – really I should be able to this. I think I can get away with only a minimum amount of food shopping next week, but I need to look at the freezer and cupboards to check. I know I am very low on greens, and some basics are running out – milk, bread. But I will assess that on Sunday and let you know with my meal plan for the week.

So an expensive day – utilities bill and £50 out in cash. Gosh, do not want a day like that again for a while please!

Frugally yours

Abigail

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Roll Up Roll Up! or Ooooo I Love A Market I do!

I found myself in Wolverhampton at lunchtime today and as I love a market, I toddled off to their indoor and outdoor market for a meander.

Do not forget I was rich today with the £3.38 burning a hole in my pocket. I did want (not need) a couple of things, but was really just happy for a frugal mooch.

It may not be the best market in the world, but as I had been there before I knew there were some stalls worth visiting. Plus I much prefer giving my money to an individual and not a Plc if i can.

One of which is my favourite, a spice and general convenience stall. Where I purchased some paprika. I had wanted some for the casserole at the weekend and had been disappointed to find the store cupboards bereft of it.

So the sum of 60p means I probably have about four or five tablespoons full. Ok not packaged in an expensive glass jar, but actually in a little paper bag. However, lets face it, a paper bag is better for the environment.

I then bought two oranges for the fruit bowl at 34p for the 2. Again no plastic or cellophane, I just dumped them in my handbag.

And finally, off to the corner shop to grab my usual bottle of diet cola £1.09 and today I pushed the boat out and got a bag of cheap crisps for 39p.
Total sum spent £2.43.

I thought about grabbing some eggs too at 89p for 6 large ones, but I thought back to my meal plan and decided against it. As currently I do not need them. How pious am I?

Straight home tonight for a quick change before seeing The Chap later after dinner. So, I think I can do my no visiting the cashpoint until tomorrow easily.
In actual fact I do have enough just to grab a drink tomorrow lunchtime too and since there is plenty of the petrol in the car. I may be able to go until Friday, well here is hoping anyway.

I think I am still spending too much, but at least £5 has done me for 3 days. Pretty good I think.
Frugally yours
Abigail
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My Frugal Five, or Beating the Money Fritter

I am a Marvel, Magician and Illusionist Extraordinaire!

For you see, I can make money disappear! 

It is so easy to just scatter money away, it seems to fall through your finger tips and disappear into the black hole of “money spent frittered on nothing in particular”.

How often have you visited the cashpoint in the morning and taken out say £50 and by the end of the day there is only £12 or £7 left and yet you cannot pin point where it went as you mentally back track through the day. “Nope, you bought your petrol with a card” you think as you look at your depleted funds and lack of newly acquired physical possessions.

So where did it go? I can give you examples the £3 coffee, the £5 at the car wash, £2 on a magazine, the list is endless and really if we stopped and thought about it, these are amounts that we are happy to spend and yet can really eat into the notes in our purses and wallets.

I will give you an example, today I popped out at lunchtime from the office and just walked to the nearest corner shop where I bought a bottle of diet coke £1.20 and a TV magazine 42p. Total £1.62. I only had £5 on me so got change of £3.38.

How quickly could you fritter that £3.38 away? Or would you be heading back to the cashpoint for more then? 

So Here are My Frugal Five or tips to try and beat the “money flew”

1)    Take lunch to work. If you spent £4 a day on lunch a day that is £20 per week, which is roughly £960 per annum (for only 48 weeks per annum) that is the price of a holiday.

Really when it comes to lunches at work ignore the glossy magazine recipes and KIS – keep it simple. It is so much more likely to work then.

I often in the summer turn up on a Monday with a loaf, a few tomatoes, butter and salt. I toast the bread, butter it add sliced tomatoes and sprinkle salt. It really is delicious and costs tuppence ha’penny as my grandmother would have said. Winter, I wander in with a tub of soup (sometimes homemade and sometimes from the supermarket).

Forget trying to impress colleagues with you culinary expertise. Just buy a few basics for the cupboard and freeze a couple of loaves of bread and you will always be ready to go. Or make extra dinner and take some leftovers.
 
2)    Turn the heating down. I was out for a couple of hours last night, so as I left W Towers, I turned the heating down from 23 to 15. I am not paying to heat it up when I am not here. I also often get home on really miserable days and hop straight into the bath to warm me up before I start making dinner etc

3)    Remove all 20p that pass through your hands and place them in a savings box. You will amazed how quickly this will mount up without you noticing them going. At the end of the month, I bet you have about £20. Just saving these could net you up to £240 towards Christmas if you start now.

4)    Is your bank worth it? Two years ago I looked at my main bank account and realised I was paying nearly £20 per month for it’s use.
“But”, they argued “You get all this free with it”

AA Membership
Mobile phone insurance
Credit / debit card insurance
Holiday insurance.
Overdraft facility to £500
A very sexy gold debit card (actually this was my favourite part of the account – how shallow!)

It is not free! I am paying for the privilege – just under £240 per annum. I started looking into it.

I got AA membership with work, my mobile was covered under my household insurance anyway. I was only going away once per annum and could get covered for about £12 for the trip. And the bank would give me (then) a free overdraft with a basic account, which cost nothing per month.

Result? Within 1 month, I had a very unsexy debit card in a mouldy colour, but had saved myself a couple of hundred pounds per annum.

Your account may or may not have such freebies, if they do, look at the actual cost and check out whether such services are worth it.

5)      If eating out and you want to cut the bill slightly my absolute “go to” tip is when ordering drinks always always always order tap water. I love diet cola, could drink it by the bucket load. But, when I go out for dinner with friends, which is about once per month. I always order a diet coke and a glass of tap water AT THE SAME TIME. By doing this, it stops you spending extra on drinks soft or alcohol which can increase the bill a lot. A couple of cokes in a restaurant could add £4 to your bill. One day I may get to the point of always asking for tap water and never buying soft drinks / alcohol. In the mean time, baby steps..

Not all these might work for you, but just writing this list had made me think of all the areas where money can be saved. And I would love to hear your tips too!

Frugally yours
Abigail
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